The look changed.
But the results remained the same for the Kentwood High volleyball team on Saturday in the South Puget Sound League championship match against Rogers.
Adorned in new, long-sleeved jerseys, the Conquerors made relatively quick work of their Puyallup rivals, working over the Rams in four games at Kentwood, 25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 25-15.
The new look notwithstanding, the Conquerors brought their usual power arsenal that the Rams simply could not defend.
“No. I don’t believe in that stuff,” KW coach Bil Caillier said when asked if the jerseys brought any kind of luck, but then added, “If we would have lost, I would have believed in bad luck and thrown them out.”
There was no need to do that as the Conquerors won their third straight SPSL crown — all three of which have come against Rogers.
“They’re a great team and we love playing against them because they’re such good competition,” said Kentwood outside hitter Lauren Campbell, who delivered a match-high 25 kills. “They’re just fun to play with. But it’s always good to get a win.”
Campbell wasn’t the only Conk to flex muscle. Jessie Genger added 13 kills; teammates Elle Mortensen and Erin Campbell chipped in 10 apiece. Setter Stephanie Shumaker finished the night with 43 assists.
With the victory, Kentwood will take the top seed into the West Central District tournament, which begins Friday at the Kitsap Pavilion in Bremerton. The tournament will be split between two weekends, with final slate of games set for Saturday, Nov. 15.
Rogers will be the SPSL’s No. 2 seed to district, followed by No. 3 Kentlake, No. 4 Puyallup, No. 5 Kent-Meridian, No. 6 Bethel, No. 7 Curtis, No. 8 Auburn Riverside, No. 9 Graham-Kapowsin and No. 10 Kentridge.
The top six teams from the district tournament advance to state, slated for Nov. 21-22 at the Toyota Center in Kennewick.
Rogers played Saturday’s match without star outside hitter Ashleigh Pollard, who sat out with an ankle sprain.
“Considering Ashleigh was out, I thought our team reacted very well through that,” Rogers coach Mandy Flores-Handley said. “We took a game off Kentwood, which we didn’t on senior night (two weeks ago).”
But …
“It would have been nice to play somebody else,” Flores-Handley said.
Rogers remained close much of the night, but continually was turned back. Tied 10-10 in the opener, the Conquerors finished things with a 15-8 run. The Rams forged a 17-17 tie in the second game only to succumb to a host of kills from Kentwood’s Genger and Campbell.
Rogers took the third game behind a dominant performance from 6-foot-1 middle hitter Julia Nix, who finished with a team-high 14 kills.
Kentwood, however, would not be denied, rolling to a 12-0 advantage in the fourth game before fending off a late Rogers rally.
“I’ll have to look at the video, but it seemed like we didn’t keep our level of intensity going with Ashleigh out,” Caillier said. “Rogers isn’t built around one player.”
KL’s Kozy sets school record
Before Kentwood put the clamps on its third straight SPSL title, Kentlake’s Melissa Kozy delivered the performance of the tournament.
The 5-foot-11 senior racked up a school-record 32 kills in a five-game back-and-forth victory against Puyallup. Scores were 25-18, 21-25, 21-25, 27-25, 15-13.
Kozy’s 32 kills breaks the record previously held by Amanda Mach, who banged out 25 in 2000.
The win helped the Falcons secure the tournament’s No. 3 seed to district. And it wouldn’t have happened without Kozy, who proved to be Kentlake’s go-to-player down the stretch.
“Toward the end of the match, it was ‘Feed the ball to Melissa Kozy,’” Kentlake coach Shawna Behrens said. “That’s what we needed.”
Though Kentlake already had a district berth in hand regardless of the outcome against Puyallup, Kozy’s performance could not have come at a better time. The Falcons were swept by the Vikings during the regular season.
With Kozy geared up and in control, that wasn’t about to happen again.
“I think we wanted it more than any other game,” Kozy said. “League games are one thing, but once you get to postseason, everything is for state. It just hits home.”
Kent-Meridian upended Bethel in four games, 25-18, 21-25, 25-17, 25-21, to secure the No. 5 seed to district. Kentridge lost to Graham-Kapowsin in three games, 25-19, 25-17, 25-14, and will take the 10th and final seed to district. Ashley Nguyen led the Chargers with 13 kills.
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